'SHELVE' SELF

  Do you ever feel sorry for yourself or throw yourself a humongous pity party where only you are in attendance? Usually it is as a result of thinking about yourself and your problems more than God. God made us special but often times we 'beat ourselves up' and do not understand why things are not going our way. It is usually due to the 'self monster' and not totally leaning on God and His word.   The Bible talks about dying to self(1 Corinthians 15:31). Dying to self could even be when we get easily offended and can not let things go. We perhaps are ultra sensitive and take any negative comment as a form of rejection when in fact it was probably not. If you have had bad experiences or been hurt in the past then you would tend to get  your defensives up. Love covers these offenses and love let's things go and moves on in life so as to not cause a breach in a relationship over something petty.   There have been perhaps some broken marriages where 'self' was first and not the spouse. When you marry your spouse, who ideally is your best friend,  they should be first place, after God of course. When you start demanding your own way and do not listen to both sides you can easily get into disagreements which can later turn into full scale battle if you do not stop it now and put God back on the throne. Do not allow anger or self centeredness to take a hold on you.   Phillipians 2:4 is a great verse for not only married couples but also friendships and it says "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." When you start to assume and speculate things are wrong you start thinking of yourself again. Time to give God first place in your thoughts and you will not have time for the self pity and the chance of taking offense.   Being offended is a stronghold that has to be broken. Satan would love to take advantage of it. It has happened to me and I constantly have to battle it. I am thankful for God's redeeming power and understanding kind friends. If you deal with this being offended easily, ask God to help you conquer it and be set free from this stronghold. Romans 8:1 says "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." In Hebrews 12:15 it says "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." Bitterness and offense only lead to pain.   Where are you at today? Are you hurt by someone and can not seem to let it go? Give your hurt, pain, and rejection to God for He truly cares for you and can heal your wounded heart. Find a way to reach out to someone else and you will not be concentrating on yourself so much. Try to stay humble and give others credit where credit is due. Do not always be expecting someone to pat you on the back. And do things for others 'just because'.   PRAYER: Lord forgive me when I have had pity parties and taken offense at minor things. Help me learn to overlook things and keep your love in the forefront. I know Satan likes to divide relationships and cause quarrels and I will not allow him to cause me to be dwelling on my self all the time. Give me your strength to do this Lord. In Jesus name. Amen.   Click on link and it will  help you think more of Jesus than your problems. http://youtu.be/dsiDukXIeVY